Who's a Ninja?
by Ranma XLR
Summary: Ranma Saotome wakes up in Wave Country, after a fight against Kuno went wrong. Seeing the people being crushed under Gato's heel, he decides to do something about it, and befriends Team 7 in the process. Get ready for a wild adventure!
1. Prologue

**Summary: **Ranma Saotome wakes up in Wave Country, after a fight against Kuno went wrong. Seeing the people being crushed under Gato's heel, he decides to do something about it, and befriends Team 7 in the process.

**Note:** I'm bored. I like Ranma 1/2 and Naruto, and figured he'd be perfect for this.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or Ranma 1/2.

**ooooooooooooooo****  
****Who's A Ninja?**  
**A Ranma 1/2 and Naruto Crossover**  
**By Ranma XLR**  
**© 2014**  
**ooooooooooooooo**

**Prologue**

"Nngh..." I stirred myself awake. It felt like my very bones were aching, like I'd gone a couple of rounds against Ryoga. I groaned as I opened my eyes, only to shut them closed, a flash of light sending a jolt of pain through the vulnerable orbs. I clamped a hand over my face.

What happened to me? I struggled to remember.

'Last I remember, Kuno was waving some weird voodoo lookin' stick at me...' I mused as I opened my eyes once more, having slowly adjusted to the light. I remembered that fight.

It was a few weeks after my failed wedding with Akane. Things had considerably calmed down, and I was enjoying a time of peace— with the occasional duel of whoever thought they could take me, and of course, the daily annoyance that is Tatewaki Kuno. The Eternally Lost Boy was nowhere to be seen, probably lost somewhere as usual. Mousse was on some training trip, trying to get stronger for his darling Shampoo or whatever. Frankly, I didn't even care.

Anyway, back to the story at hand. Kuno had shown up, spouting his gibberish as usual. After his declarations of love towards Akane and the "kettle girl" were done, he brandished some weird stick and spoke an incantation of sorts. That was the last thing I remembered before waking up.. wherever I was.

I sat up, and looked around, scanning my surroundings. The room I was in was sparsely furnished, only having the mere essentials. Looking out of the window, I saw a large forest, stretching to the horizons. What the hell happened? Was I still in Nerima?

'No hint of technology either. I must be deep in the wilderness.' I noted, and stepped off the bed. The floor beneath my feet made loud creaking noises, unable to soundlessly hold my shifting weight. I heard the sound of footsteps from below. Whoever was down there must know I'm awake.

I tensed my muscles in anticipation. I pulled from deep within my spirit, and found my ki, ready to be used at a moment's notice.

It was all for naught, however, when I saw an aging bald man come in the room.

"Ah, it's good to see that you're all right!" The man exclaimed with a smile, which I returned.

"Uh.. Yeah. Sorry about this." I scratched the back of my head.

"It's no trouble at all, my boy. I couldn't just leave you out in the woods." The bald man answered, waving my apology off.

I frowned. "About that..." I began. "Do you know what happened to me?"

The old timer shook his head. "I'm sorry lad, but I just found ya in the forest, in the dead of night." He adopted a thoughtful look. "There was a flash of light, so I went to see what it was. Saw you lying on the dirt floor, lookin' like you went a couple of rounds against a boulder and lost."

"That was a couple days ago." The man finished.

'I'd been out for two days? What the hell did Kuno use on me!?' I thought incredulously, but shook it off. I would pay Kuno back for that. No weird magical item would ever stop Ranma Saotome. Why? Because Ranma Saotome never loses.

Whatever.

"Well, thanks for the help, old man." I gave a little nod of respect.

"Don't thank me, boy. It was just the right thing to do." The old man said, before clenching his heart and coughing painfully. He wobbled slightly, but I caught him before he fell.

"Easy there. And my name's Ranma, old timer."

-Cough- "Not old timer." -Cough- "The name's Tamotsu." The man calmed his coughing down, and began to breathe normally again. "I own the land here. Most of it is farm land to help the Wave Country, but times have been rough, and prices have been low." The man, Tamotsu, looked weary. "So I have to work twice as hard to make a living. I'm afraid my aging body can't get the job done any more."

I frowned. "What's the Wave Country?"

The old farmer gave me a look, as if I were stupid. "It's the country we're in. You've never heard of Wave? Near the Fire Country and the Land of Rivers?"

I just stared at him, not knowing what to say. Wave Country? Fire Country? Land of Rivers? I grasped at an answer desperately. "You got a map of the world? I want to confirm somethin'."

Tamotsu gave me a long look, before turning and walking down the stairs, motioning for me to follow. They reached the living room. There were a few couches, and a small table in the center. Different paintings hung on the wall, with the exception of one, which the farmer gestured at. It seemed to be a map of some sort.

...And I could not make any of it out. The landmarks looked alien to me. Where was China? India? Russia? The Americas?

After a very, very long moment. I only had the following to say.

"WHERE THE HELL AM I!?"

Elsewhere, a yellow bandana wearing young man sneezed.

**ooooooooooooooo**

**Not a bad prologue, eh!?**

**Let me know what you all think.**


	2. A Chance Encounter

**Summary: **Ranma Saotome wakes up in Wave Country, after a fight against Kuno went wrong. Seeing the people being crushed under Gato's heel, he decides to do something about it, and befriends Team 7 in the process.

**Note:** Ki and Chakra will be the same, in this story.

I'm surprised at the amount of reviews I got! Glad to see there are Ranma fans still out there... Possibly one of the best animes anyone can ever watch.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or Ranma 1/2.

**ooooooooooooooo****  
****Who's A Ninja?**  
**A Ranma 1/2 and Naruto Crossover**  
**By Ranma XLR**  
**© 2014**  
**ooooooooooooooo**

**Chapter 1: A Chance Encounter  
**

A few days had passed since I found myself stranded on another world. I still didn't quite believe it, myself. I had spent my first few hours in denial, refusing to believe such a thing would happen to me. But I stopped that line of thought when I was reminded of who I really am.

I am Ranma Saotome; for me, the strange was usual, the abnormal was just another day.

'Get a hold of yourself, Saotome.' I had told myself. In that moment, I had let go of my feelings of confusion and desperation, realizing that such emotions were not going to help me find my way home.

And so I did what I always do. I adapted. I would search for a way back, and I would succeed, because anything less was unacceptable. But first, I had to repay my debt to the old man that saved me.

'Tamotsu.' His voice rang in my head. The man was a hard working farmer with a happy disposition.. though I noticed him simply stop at times, and shake his head, as if to ward off bad memories. He had the manner of a man who had suffered much in life; a man who'd seen the true horrors that men were capable of. He'd given me some clothes that were obviously a few sizes too small for him. I'd asked where he got them, but the man clammed up, a faraway look in his eyes appearing. He didn't answer the question, and I didn't dare broach the subject again.

I figured I'd help him around the farm for a week or so. I didn't really know how it all was done, but a little teaching from Tamotsu and I had the fields tilled in a few days, a far cry from what the old timer expected. In fact, he seemed overjoyed at the fact I offered my help in the first place, let alone finishing the work in record time.

Right now, however, I was headed towards the city proper to purchase some supplies Tamotsu had told me to get. I was supposed to get some seeds, and fertilizer.

He seemed very reluctant to trust me with money— something which made me irritated, and a little curious, seeing as I'd been working the fields for a few days straight to make it up to him— but he eventually relented, and let me run the errand.

When I made it to the city, I had to stop and stare at the awful scenery.

The city was a veritable slum; a cesspool. Buildings were in various states of disrepair, if not destroyed. An awful stench permeated the air, a sign that many did not even possess running water, an essential need for many. An atmosphere of despair and sadness loomed over all, suffocating even me. Adults walked along the alleyways and streets cautiously, looking around often, as if to make sure they were safe. A few kids sat upon the ground, looking like they hadn't eaten for days, or even slept in that time. Their eyes were dull. Lifeless. As some of the people near me took in my appearance, they shied away, as if I was going to beat them for no reason.

I grit my teeth at the scene. This wasn't right. It was as if the people's spirit had been broken by something, but what?

A flash of Tamotsu shaking his head passed through my mind. I resolved to ask the man a couple of questions when I got back.

But first, back to the matter at hand. I went to the nearest person. It was a woman. She looked panicked as I approached her.

"Hello." I began with a friendly smile, which didn't reassure her at all.

"U-um." She began, still looking around for a way out. "C-Can I help you?"

"Yeah!" I grinned, not wanting to let on the fact I noticed her fear. "I'm running an errand for old man Tamotsu."

She perked up noticeably at the name, but still looked at me warily. "Oh, are you?"

"Yeah." I confirmed. "He told me to come here and get some supplies for him. I was just wonderin' where the marketplace was. Ya think you can help me out?" I asked.

She gave me a long look, as if to gauge my worth. Finally, she answered. "You go down this road, and go to the right. You'll find a store with the items you need, there."

"Great, thanks!" I turned to leave, but stopped. I turned back towards the woman. "I've got somethin' else I need to ask."

"S-Sure." She answered, looking nervous again. I briefly wondered what ideas were sprouting in her head, but decided to ask my question.

"What's wrong with this place? Everyone seems dead-eyed. Did something happen?" I asked, wanting to know what's going on.

She clammed up, and started looking around in a panic. She motioned for me to come closer, after a few moments. She leaned forward and whispered in my ear.

"Ask the old man." She whispered, a whimper escaping her lips. "W-we may be watched." She stuttered.

My eyes widened at that revelation. Watched? By who? I was about to ask the woman further questions, but realized that was all I was going to get out of her, judging by her sudden fit of shaking. Something bad must have happened to her. I put my hand on her shoulder, and gave a light squeezed. She flinched away at first, but eventually accepted the friendly gesture for what it was: Be strong.

I bit down on my anger at whoever did this to the woman, and made my way to the marketplace, following the directions she gave me. As indicated, I found the store, and made my way inside. The place was practically empty, with no notable items on display. It was a miracle the place was still open. I approached the teller.

"Yo." I flashed a quick smile at the store owner, a middle aged, thin man.

"Hello. I haven't seen your face before." The man said guardedly.

"I'm new." I explained. "Actually, I'm here on behalf of Tamotsu. I-"

"Ooh!" The owner perked up. "So the old timer's still kicking! That's good to hear." He smiled at me.

"Well I'm here to buy some seeds and some fertilizer." I said, looking around the store. I doubted he had anything. As if reading my line of thought, the owner knelt down, and wedged a stick in between the floorboards. He pulled, and the floorboard came off easily, showing a multitude of things in storage. I raised my eyebrows in surprise. What a sneaky man.

'Though,' I thought to myself. 'You'd have to be sneaky in a place like this.'

"I'm afraid," The owner said, pulling out a bag of what looked like seeds. "We don't have any fertilizer, but these should help. Ne?" He held the bag of seeds out to me. I grabbed it, and fished in my pockets, grasping at a few coins the old man had given me. I handed them over to the owner, thanking him for the service, and made my way out of the store.

I made it around ten steps out of the store, before I heard a few rustling noises to my right. I turned my head to see what the commotion was about; it was just two men standing around, whispering to each other. They took no note of my presence, deciding to head over to the store I'd just left, leaving a sinking feeling in my stomach.

The shouts and sounds of things breaking were all I needed to run back into the store, the seeds safely stored in one of the many pockets this outfit had.

The scene I'd entered to was just as I'd imagined. The owner was on his knees, his hands clasped together. He was begging.

"I swear!" He shouted. "I swear I don't have anything!" He cried desperately, his head bowed.

"See, old man," One of the two assaulters drawled in a bored tone. "Me and my buddy here," He motioned to the other burly man next to him, who was cracking his knuckles menacingly, "don't really believe you. We saw a guy leave this place just now. This means they bought something from here. Which means you've been holdin' out on us!"

"No!" The man lied vehemently, gritting his teeth. "I sent him away because I didn't have anything!"

"I've heard enough." The first man said. "Let's rough him up a little. Maybe then he'll talk."

The owner started begging, calling out for help as the two men approached him, unheeding of his pleas.

That was all I needed to see, before I interrupted.

"Hey, bastards!" My voice carried through the store, startling all three occupants. The two bandits turned to me, glaring hatefully at me. I wasn't amused.

"What did you say, punk!?" The first guy said angrily, moving towards me threateningly, the other man following suit.

"What, you deaf as well, loser?!" I taunted, and turned my back on them, stepping out of the store as I did so.

"Why, you!" I heard one of them yell out, and the sound of their footsteps right after.

Perfect, they fell for my bait. It took all my self control to not grin at that very moment. A small while later, and we stood in the open street, a small crowd forming around us. The people recognized me as the newcomer who'd asked one of them a couple questions. Some of the elders looked away, as if they knew the horror they were about to witness. I frowned at the lack of support. Their spirit really was broken.

"Heh, you see this, Manji?" The bandit said to his cohort. "We even got ourselves an audience!"

The other man simply grunted, and brandished a knife at me. I was not impressed. I stood in a loose stance, provoking them to come at me. I smirked, and yawned loudly, irritating them.

"Enough games!" The first bandit rushed towards me, aiming to knock my lights out with one punch. I read his intent even before he'd ran to me. Pathetic.

I leaned to my left, missing his right hook by inches, and planted my fist in his gut, making sure not to put any strength behind it. I didn't want to kill the guy, after all.

However, it turns out that 'no strength' means 'bulldozer', as the man doubled over, losing his breath, as well as his lunch immediately. Tch. Pushover.

"That was just a love tap!" I taunted, before smashing my knee into the unfortunate bandit's face, knocking him unconscious. The other guy, Menji or whatever, seeing his friend get beaten so easily, bolted out of the street, not wanting to tangle with me, not that I could blame him, of course! No one can beat Ranma Saotome, after all!

I stared at his running form, with a bit of amusement, before suddenly frowning. These guys were the ones who caused the people of this village all the trouble. I decided to chase the guy, but suddenly heard a loud thud. I made my way towards the noise, seeing the bandit sprawled on the ground, unconscious. The sound of footsteps assaulted my ears, and I slowly looked up to the source.

The man I laid my eyes upon looked entirely different from both the bandits and the villagers. He was tall, with spiky silver hair. His eye was black, with the other covered by a strange bandana with a metal plate— was that a leaf symbol?— most of his face was covered with a mask. He wore a military green vest, adorned with many pockets and the like. A pouch was strapped on his right leg. What seemed to be the weirdest part, however, was that the man was giggling— yes, giggling— into an orange book he was currently reading. The only indication he'd knocked out the bandit was that his left fist was out, and slowly being returned to his side.

The guy stopped right in front of me, giving me a lazy look with his one eye.

"Yo!" Cyclops said with false cheer.

******ooooooooooooooo**

**:D Done! Whatchu think?**


	3. Wave's Pain

**Summary: **Ranma Saotome wakes up in Wave Country, after a fight against Kuno went wrong. Seeing the people being crushed under Gato's heel, he decides to do something about it, and befriends Team 7 in the process.

**A few replies to the anonymous reviewers:**

Ranma's curse is easily solved. How? Henge no Jutsu, an actual transformation technique. Now I know what you're gonna say: "Oh, but that's only an illusion!" And I'll answer with the following: if it was really an illusion, how did Naruto transform into a fuuma shuriken, with all its physical properties (no drag, complete with the spinning that would make any normal person vomit)? How did Naruto/Gamabunta do the combined Henge which transformed them into a huge fox with functional claws and teeth?

As for Ranma's strength level, I'd put him at high Jounin in terms of combat, although he'd get easily beaten by people like Uchiha Itachi, who's as skilled as Ranma in hand to hand, as well as possessing the Sharingan, and its awakened form the Mangekyo. Ranma can beat Kisame in hand to hand combat, but any Ki technique he uses (whether it's Moko Takabisha or Hiryu Shoten Ha) will be absorbed by Samehada. Ranma withstanding Saffron's firestorms (another point an anonymous reviewer made) is mostly due to Gekkaja's power. Let's face it, Ranma's pretty strong, but if he were to tangle with Sannin level opponents he'd get shit on.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or Ranma 1/2.

**ooooooooooooooo****  
****Who's A Ninja?**  
**A Ranma 1/2 and Naruto Crossover**  
**By Ranma XLR**  
**© 2014**  
**ooooooooooooooo**

**Chapter 2: Wave's Pain  
**

"Yo!"

I was immediately on edge. While the strange man before me made no hostile move, I could feel power underneath his lazy facade; power which was ready to erupt at any moment's notice. I grasped at my Ki, readying myself for anything. Cyclops could be part of the ones who were giving the people a hard time. Of course, some signs pointed to the opposite of that, seeing as he'd just dispatched one of the bandits, but it could all be a ruse meant to make the people feel safe.

Yes, I could see it now. He would befriend the local folk, pretending to be their "hero", saving them from "the bad guys". As time would pass, they would eventually accept him, and then, he would show his true colors. It was a perfectly plausible theory— well, to me, anyway.

"Yo." I gave a short greeting, looking around myself and surreptitiously taking note of the environment we stood in. I could take the fight to the roofs, or inside some of the abandoned buildings. It would definitely change things up a bit.

"Maa, maa... No need to be so jumpy." Cyclops held his hands up in a placating gesture, his book having disappeared. I visibly stiffened at the show of speed. He could read my body language so easily, despite my attempts at hiding it? "I'm not going to attack you."

"Do you think I'm an idiot? Who says you ain't lying to me?" I countered, taking a cautious step back. I could take him. While that show of speed was impressive, I was capable of it as well.

"Well, when you put it like that..." One-eye drawled lazily, still standing in place. "I was only here to check the situation. Seems like the man who hired me really wasn't lying to us."

"The man who hired you?" I asked, despite myself. I didn't really care who hired him.

"Hmm?" Cyclops said in a disinterested tone. "Ah, yes. The bridge builder, Tazuna."

Some people in the crowd around us gasped. I could guess why. The old man Tamotsu had mentioned the guy in passing. He'd said Tazuna was probably the only chance the Wave Country had at this point. I hadn't asked further, but I was planning to, just as soon as I headed back...

"Well," Cyclops did a little stretch, and turned his back to me, walking away. "It was nice meeting you, stranger."

"Ranma." I said, not knowing what came over me.

He turned to me, with a questioning look in his one eye.

"My name's Ranma." I repeated.

"Oh, I see." He gave a nod. "In that case, my name is Kakashi. It was nice meeting you, Ranma-san." He said, before leaving the premises. A few moments of silence passed before the crowd scattered, leaving me and the two unconscious bandits behind.

I let out a breath, not knowing I'd held one in the first place. That guy was strong. _Really_ strong. And while I was itching for a good fight, I still remembered my promise to Tamotsu. I took my debts very seriously.

But first, I had a couple bandits to take care of...

The sound of maniacal cackling was heard throughout the town.

**oooooo**

It took a little while, but I made it back to the old man's farm. A mischievous grin was plastered on my face as I knocked on Tamotsu's front door.

Why the joyful attitude, you ask? Well... I had some fun, earlier. Those bandits that Kakashi and I had dispatched earlier? I stripped them down to their underwear, taking their money and any other useful items. As I was sifting through their gear, I found lots of rope. So, I had a brilliant idea; I hogtied the cruel bastards and put them on display, right in the middle of the town. The people watched me do it with a touch of worry in their eyes, but they enjoyed the show nonetheless. Nothing better than petty revenge on those that wronged us, no?

The sound of the door opening broke me from my thoughts.

"Ah, you're back, I see." The old man, Tamotsu, grunted. "What took you so long?" He eyed me suspiciously, but stood aside to allow me entry.

"Sorry." I gave a quick apology, and entered his home. He closed the door behind me. "There were a couple of bandits in town, and I had to stop 'em."

"Y-You..!" He spluttered. "Fought bandits and lived?"

"Heh." An arrogant smirk made its way on my face, as I handed him the seeds. "They were pushovers. Couple hits and they went down like sacks of potatoes."

"That's very impressive." Tamotsu praised me. "You ever think of joining up with a Shinobi village?"

Wait... What?

"Shinobi village?" I repeated what he said several times in my mind, finding the idea ridiculous. "Ninjas are real?"

"...Yes." The old man looked me exasperatedly. "Where have you been for the past centur- oh."

Oh indeed. I had told him I was from a distant land, far beyond... wherever here was; Elemental Nations or some such rot. I could care less.

"Ninja, huh? What are they like?" I asked lightly, but I had an idea already. I just needed confirmation.

"Well, there are different villages, you see. Each village serves the country it's in. We," He gestured at himself, "in the Wave Country, possess no village, thus no Ninja. I will go over the major countries, since there are some minor countries with Ninja villages of their own." Tamotsu explained.

I gave a patient nod, eager to learn this new information.

"As the name implies, the Elemental Nations are divided into five major countries, each named after an element, with many minor countries in between. First, the Land of Earth, home to Iwagakure no Sato **(Village Hidden by Rocks)**. Second, the Land of Wind, which is home to Sunagakure no Sato **(Village Hidden by Sand)**. Third, the Land of Lightning, home to Kumogakure no Sato **(Village Hidden by Clouds)**. Fourth, the Land of Water," I snorted at the name. Tamotsu gave me a slightly annoyed look for interrupting his explanation, but kept going. "As I was saying, Kirigakure no Sato **(Village Hidden by Mist)** is in the Land of Water. Then there's the Land of Fire, with Konohagakure no Sato **(Village** **Hidden by L****eaves**)as its village."

I took a few moments, making sure that I understood what he was telling me.

"Can you tell me more?" I finally asked.

"Ah, yes. Well, the Ninja do missions for the country's Daimyo, as well as other benefactors if the price is right." Tamotsu said. "I'd wager they do all sorts of missions in all fields." He scratched his chin in contemplation. "What else do I know... Oh yes, of course. The way to identify where a Ninja is from, is by seeing what their Hitai-ate's **(Forehead Protector)** symbol is."

"Wait," I suddenly interrupted. "After I beat those bandits, I met this guy. He was wearing one of those things. It had a leaf symbol." I breathed out quickly.

"Ah, did you now?" Tamotsu looked intrigued. "They must be the Ninja that Tazuna hired from the Leaf Village."

Tazuna, that name again.

"That's what Cyclops said, too." I said to myself. The old farmer nodded with satisfaction.

"This is good news, Ranma-san." Tamotsu had a hopeful look in his eyes. I almost recoiled at its intensity. "This country of ours has suffered long enough. Maybe now we have a chance to thrive once more."

"About that...," I broached the subject. "What exactly is wrong with this place?"

"Because I went to that town," I continued. "Everybody was dead eyed. Like they'd completely lost hope." 'Even you.' I thought to myself, remembering the times the man would have this defeated look in his eyes, which he masked with false cheer afterwards.

Tamotsu nodded.

"I-We-" He seemed at a loss of words. He took a few moments to compose himself. "This country had a hero."

"A hero?" I asked, confusedly.

"Yes." The old farmer said. "His name was Kaiza. He came from a foreign land; a fisherman with high hopes. He was a role model to many of the young'uns. He was a hard worker," Tamotsu looked at me for a moment, "something you two have in common. Heh." He shook his head. "He eventually married Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami, and made a name for himself by saving all of us from a horrible flood. We all proclaimed him as the country's hero." He reminisced.

"But then _Gato_ came." Tamotsu spat out the name like it was poison. "He came with his men, and began taking over everything. The country began to rot under his grip."

"But there was still hope, and Gato didn't like that. He didn't like people like Kaiza." Tamotsu had a pained look in his eye. "People like my-my son."

"..." I was uncharacteristically silent.

"No.. He made them suffer, to show us what happens to those who dared oppose him." Tamotsu said quietly. "He had his men cut off Kaiza's arms, and paraded him around the city, calling him a terrorist attacking his corporation. A-and my son, too. He," The old man had to visibly compose himself, biting back tears. "He—"

I grabbed his shoulder, giving it a light squeeze.

"I've heard enough, old man. You don't have to tell me any more."

Tamotsu only nodded, before clearing his throat.

"Unlike me, Tazuna never gave up hope, though. The bridge he was building would remove Gato's hold on our country, freeing us once and for all." Tamotsu explained. "It is good news. Very good news."

We sat in silence for a few moments.

"So the bridge is the key to all this, huh?" I asked tentatively.

"Yes," Tamotsu gave a nod. "Now that Tazuna has the Ninja of Leaf on his side, we may have a real chance of being free."

"But," He continued. "I don't doubt that _Gato_ probably has many Ninja at his beck and call, as well."

"Ninja, huh." I said out loud. "Old man. You wouldn't mind if I went to help that bridge builder guy, right?"

"I couldn't stop you even if I wanted to, my boy."

"Well, I'm still indebted to you for savin' my ass from the fores-" I tried to answer.

"Nonsense, Ranma-san. I'd say you more than repaid me with all the help you've given me. Besides," He looked at me. "Helping Tazuna would be doing a favor— not just to me— but to all of Wave."

I guess I know where I'm going, next.

******ooooooooooooooo**

Done!


	4. Naruto and Friends

**A few replies to the anonymous reviewers:**

guy: I used the term "really strong" not because Kakashi is stronger than Ranma in the strictest sense of the term, but because Ranma is a simple minded individual, and the term "strong" is interlinked with skilled, powerful, etc. Also, Ki output doesn't decide battles. Skill, luck and the situation do; that's how Ranma was able to beat Prince Herb, despite Herb having massive reserves of Ki. I know this, many people would say they know this. Even Ranma himself knows this.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or Ranma 1/2.

**ooooooooooooooo****  
****Who's A Ninja?**  
**A Ranma 1/2 and Naruto Crossover**  
**By Ranma XLR**  
**© 2014**  
**ooooooooooooooo**

**Chapter 3: Blonde Haired Midget and Friends  
**

Ninja. I rolled the word around in my head, still not capable of comprehending it. I mean, sure, I've met real life Ninja. It wasn't something I tried to emulate. Sasuke— the 'Ninja' that worked for the Kuno family— was a joke. His combat skills were almost non-existent; he had little reach or strength, and from what I remember, most of his attacks, traps or whatever almost always backfired (not to mention they were ridiculous and weird, but my life has been this way for as long as I can remember, really.)

The other not so shining example of a Ninja I've met was Konatsu. Her— and by her, I mean _his_— skills were pretty good, but if we were to go all out I'd beat the guy with ease. No, I'm not being arrogant when I say this. No, I'm not some braggart. I know my own limits, and they go well beyond Konatsu's.

I gave an involuntary shudder, a whole world of people like Konatsu and Sasuke. A whole world of insane cross-dressers and midgets with half baked ridiculous skills? I shuddered again. I had to shake the images out of my head.

I thought about Kakashi the Cyclops. He looked normal enough, aside from the weird giggling. And he possessed a lot of skill, if he could nonchalantly knock a bandit out while not truly paying attention. While that one encounter gave no indication of the man's true strength, I would say it was a big hint at where he really was. Not stronger than me though, that's for sure. I'm the best there ever was!

The trek to Tazuna's place took much longer than I'd hoped. Tamotsu had said that it would be a moderately long trip, but I didn't really believe the old timer. Geezers are almost always slowpokes, with the exception of the couple of wrinkled prunes Cologne and Happosai, but those two were freaks. I still don't understand how they've survived this long. Speaking of home.. The past few days have been very calm, compared to the life I led in Japan. It was a refreshing change for me, to say the least. I loved the peace and quiet this kind of life offered. Made me almost want to stay.

'But there's no need to leave, is there?' A voice in the back of my mind said. I shook my head at the thought. I had to go home, I had family and friends, hopefully not worrying too much about me. A slight blush appeared when I thought of the tomboy. Wonder how she's doing.

"Can I help you?" A voice interrupted my thoughts. I turned to the right. It was a beauty of a woman. She had long, cobalt hair, and eyes of the same color. She wore a short-sleeved pink shirt, with the end of the sleeves and the collar being red in color; her dress was also red, reaching well beyond her knees. The sound of clothes fluttering in the wind registered in my head, and I noticed the clothesline filled with various articles of clothing. I guess I wasn't focusing on my surroundings.

She smiled at me. It was a guarded smile, but a nice one nonetheless. I figured I'd set her at ease; life in Nerima had taught me that misunderstandings tended to escalate very quickly.

"Yeah!" I gave a smile, "I'm looking for Tazuna. He's supposed to be a bridge builder or somethin'."

Suddenly her look wasn't so friendly anymore. Uh oh.

"What do you want?" Her tone was sharp, as if testing me. I withered under her glare. What is it with me and angry females?

"I was told by the old farmer, um, Tamotsu," I clarified, "that the bridge being built was Wave's only hope of succeedin' in freeing the country."

Her look softened at Tamotsu's name, remembering the horrible tragedy that had befallen the man's son.

"Yes. Yes, it is." She said, before turning to walk to her house, motioning for me to follow. "What do you wish to do..."

"Ranma Saotome." I supplied my name.

"I am charmed to meet you, Ranma-san. My name is Tsunami." She answered kindly, her demeanor changing once more. "Tazuna is my father."

"Nice to meet you, too." I said. "I was hoping I could help him in building the bridge."

We stopped at the front door. She turned to me, giving me a look of mild concern. "I see. Are you sure about this? You may be in danger, you know. Gato's men are dangerous people."

I remembered the one lackey I'd basically sleepwalked through, I gave a scoff. "Those guys are pushovers. I'll be fine."

"If you're sure..." She trailed off uncertainly, before the front door opened, revealing...

"Tsunami-neechan!" The person said extremely loudly. It was a little blonde kid in an orange, and blue jumpsuit. He wore the same kind of metal plate I'd seen on Cyclops. His pure blue eyes looked at me curiously. I noticed that the kid had whisker marks on his face. Were those real?

"Who's this!?" The kid asked, still with that same annoying voice. Tsunami simply gave a light giggle.

"Hello, Naruto-kun." She greeted the boy warmly, before turning to me. "This is Ranma Saotome-san."

"Yo." I waved nonchalantly.

"Hey!" He grinned at me. This kid was pretty cheerful compared to the rest of the population. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki!"

"Nice to meet you, kid." I ruffled the kid's hair. He glared up at me impetuously.

"Don't call me kid!"

"...Kid."

"Why, you!" Naruto was restrained by Tsunami, who whacked him on the back of the head.

I could already tell teasing this little kid would be extremely fun. Tsunami frowned at my behavior, but didn't say anything.

"Anyway!" The blonde midget did a 180 and turned to Tsunami. "Tsunami-neechan! I'm off to see Kakashi-sensei at the bridge!" I perked up at that little tidbit of information. So the Cyclops was this kid's teacher, huh?

"I see," Tsunami said, and hmm-ed thoughtfully, before speaking. "Naruto-kun."

"Huh?" Naruto looked at her with his squinting eyes.

"Could you show Ranma-san here," She motioned to me, "The way to the bridge, please?"

"Okay!" He gave a huge smile, before walking off, motioning for me to follow. So I did. We both waved goodbye to Tsunami, and began walking.

It was a quiet affair, so far anyway. I could tell the kid's buzzing with energy. I'd never seen someone so excited. And the feel of Ki he gave off was unreal.

He had so much Ki, it was mind boggling. I'm no expert at telling how much Ki people have, but if I had to guess, he had about a third of my own reserves, which were quite considerable in nature; but I'd gained my power through blood, sweat, and tears. I'd fought freaks of nature, ancient martial arts masters, dragon-kind and phoenix-kind folk. Naruto was, what? Eleven years old? To have that much Ki in his system was nothing short of impressive. It's a miracle his body is not bursting at the seams. I'd tried channeling high amounts of Ki in my system when I was a child, and I simply couldn't handle it. My teachers had simply said that it was a normal thing that was to be expected. They told me that it took an adult body to handle the potent force and power of Ki. Otherwise it would just continually damage the body irreparably.

There was something else, though. Around Naruto's center, there was something else. I couldn't tell what it was, but that it was there, somehow regulating the flow of energy inside of him. Is that why he's not already dead from energy overuse?

"Hey!" The kid's voice interrupted my thoughts. I turned a lazy eye in his direction, waiting for him to say something else.

"Ano sa! Ano sa!" He said, "Where are you from, Ranma-niichan?"

Ranma-niichan?

"Well, kid," Naruto twitched at that, and I had to stifle a grin. "I'm from a very far away land. Farther than the Elemental Nations."

"Oh..." He took a while to digest that. "What are you doing in a place like this, then?"

"I'm not sure, really." I answered honestly. "I just woke up at some old guy's place. I don't know how I got here."

"..." He stared at me with his squinting eyes again. "Are you some kinda drunk?"

I suppressed the urge to kick the kid into low earth orbit. I needed him to get to the stupid bridge, after all. I pinched his cheek instead.

"Ow! What was that for!?" He rubbed at his sore cheek, whining.

"That's for putting your foot in your mouth, kid." I answered, before noticing something. It was the bridge we'd been heading for. I had been amused at the people's reaction when they heard Tazuna's name being spoken. I mean, it's just a bridge right? Big deal. What I saw before me was _huge_. As big as bridges from my home, and it wasn't even complete yet.

I remembered the state of the town I'd been in earlier. Just how is this guy affording all this? He must be putting the whole place's funds into this bridge; probably their last ditch effort in trying to get out of Gato's influence. Not that I could blame them, really. I wouldn't wish for anyone to live in squalor and poverty.

"So this is the bridge, huh." I said unnecessarily, gazing upon the edifice.

"Yeah!" Naruto said excitedly, before running the rest of the way to bridge. "Follow me! Kakashi-sensei and the old man Tazuna is this way!"

I followed him, matching his pace easily. It took a few seconds, but we came upon the construction site. I could see men and women of various ages accomplishing various tasks to further the building process. The place was a bustle of activity, and in the center stood a few people. I recognized one as Kakashi the cyclops. Next to him, I could see two kids; a girl and a boy. The girl had long, pink hair, and was wearing a red dress of some sort, while the boy had black, spiky hair. He was wearing a navy-blue, short sleeved shirt with a high collar, and some strange crest on the back. Looked like some kind of red and white fan.

The third guy, I assumed, was probably Tazuna. He was dressed quite modestly, when compared to the others standing next to him. For an old timer, he looked decently fit; probably a side effect from working construction. He was currently scribbling something in his workbook.

They took note of our presence, as Naruto ran up to them.

"Hey, everyone!" Naruto greeted them with a grin, as I made my way to the group.

"Hello." Tazuna greeted me, wary of my presence.

"Yo."

"We meet again, Ranma-san." Cyclops-no, Kakashi said cordially. I was about to answer back, but Naruto beat me to it.

"Huuuh?" Naruto said, turning to Kakashi. "You know Ranma-niichan, Kakashi-sensei!?"

"Ranma-niichan?" Kakashi repeated, amused by something, before ruffling Naruto's hair. "Yes, Naruto. I met him today. There was some trouble with some bandits, and I almost thought I had to take care of it, but Ranma-san here," He motioned to me. "Was more than capable of handling the situation. Quite an impressive feat."

"Ah, it was nothing." I waved it off. "I gave him a love tap and he keeled over. Total pushover."

"That is very humble of you." Kakashi answered neutrally.

"That's all well and good," rudely interrupted the black haired kid. "But what are you doing here?"

Kakashi tsk-ed at this behavior. "Sa-su-ke." He lengthened each syllable, in an attempt to annoy the boy. It seemed to have worked; the kid was bristling. "It's polite to introduce yourself first!" He gave an ominous eye-smile.

"Hn." The boy, Sasuke, acknowledged that tidbit of wisdom. "I am Sasuke Uchiha."

"I'm Tazuna."

"And I am Sakura Haruno." The pink haired girl joined the conversation. The look she was giving me was worthy of Shampoo.

"Nice to meet you; I'm Ranma Saotome." I introduced myself to them with a small bow, which they returned.

"Now," Kakashi interjected. "While my silly cute student," Sasuke twitched, "was rude, his question is still valid. If I may be so bold, what brings you here, Ranma-san?"

"Well, I've been working on old man Tamotsu's farm," Tazuna's expression changed at the mention of his friend who'd suffered as much as his family did. "And he told me of what was going on with this country." I looked into Tazuna's eyes. "I'd like to help out, in any way I can."

"Well," Tazuna smiled at me, somehow shedding a few years off of his frame at this news. "I accept your offer!"

Things were looking good.

******ooooooooooooooo**

**Sorry I took so long. I've been playing Diablo III nonstop. Plus I read a couple of stories. You ain't the only readers out there!**


	5. More than He Appears

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or Ranma 1/2.

**ooooooooooooooo****  
****Who's A Ninja?**  
**A Ranma 1/2 and Naruto Crossover**  
**By Ranma XLR**  
**© 2014**  
**ooooooooooooooo**

**Chapter 4: More than He Appears  
**

"Ano sa! Ano sa!"

I groaned internally. This kid was kind of cute at the beginning, but he was getting on my nerves now.

"What is it, brat?" I asked, irritation seeping in my voice, while taking a bite out of some fish on my plate. How had I ended up here?

It had been a few hours since Tazuna had accepted my offer to work for him. He'd asked me what my skillset was, and I'd given him a pretty terrible answer in the form of "Um... I'm pretty strong?"

Needless to say, the old man was upset. The team of Ninjas— they operate in teams, apparently— were walking around the area, making sure they help the workers in case any accidents or attacks happen.

The old bridge builder was about to say something to me, before I walked to a set of I-beams, and hoisted one on my shoulder, with barely any effort. The look he gave me was priceless, and I relished every second of it. Since then, he had me do much of the heavy lifting, since there was only so much their low-end machinery could do. I ended up carrying much of the construction material, holding some metal beams in place so they could weld them together. I could tell the old man was impressed by my work, and attempted to pay me at the end of the day.

I told him that it was fine, and that I didn't need any money. He looked somewhat lost, at that; and he should be lost. What kind of sane person would refuse money, after all?

Tazuna insisted on paying me somehow, though. It was at that moment that my stomach betrayed me— the little stinking traitor— and made a loud groaning noise. I'd realized I hadn't eaten in a while.

The old man jumped at the opportunity and insisted that I should come to his house for dinner. I couldn't tell him that I wasn't hungry— and to be honest, I didn't want to eat Tamotsu's food; not that there was anything wrong with it, but it lacked taste. With that in mind, I reluctantly said yes.

Which brings me back to the present time.

"What is it, kid?"

"Stop calling me that!" Naruto glared at me petulantly, but then grinned. "You're pretty strong, Ranma-niichan!"

"Hm?" Kakashi asked disinterestedly. Most likely, he had seen my physical feats at the bridge, and kept them to himself. Smart guy. Not sure why he's covering his face though.. Is he ugly or something? Probably has huge lips.

"That's nothin'." I bragged.

"Nothing!?" The pink haired girl— Sakura— spluttered. "Those things weighed over two hundred kilos each! And you lifted them with no problems!"

"Well, yeah. Can't you? Aren't you guys Ninja, or somethin'?" I countered. She got a pale look on her face when I said that. She looked like she could get beaten by a baby. Super-thin, and lacking any physical strength. That she tended to viciously take things out on Naruto proved that. I felt bad for the kid, because I'd been treated similarly by Akane.

"We do actually undergo some strength training." Kakashi answered vaguely, not really answering my question. It was as good of an answer as I could get, though. Sneaky Ninjas; except the blonde kid looking at me like I'm his personal hero. I stifled another groan; the last thing I needed was a fan boy.

Jeez.

"Your strength is indeed noteworthy for a civillian, Ranma-san." Sasuke's monotone voice broke in. Well holy hell, I'd almost forgotten he was there. Sasuke was a strange kid, in my opinion. He moved in an experienced way, a way I am very familiar with. He'd obviously received a lot of training when he was a child, and seemed to take it as seriously as I did. In a way, he was very similar to me. However, that's where our similarities end. From what I can tell so far, he's very quiet and withdrawn; and it's definitely not because he's shy.

No, there's something on his mind. I just don't know what.

"Uh, thanks squirt." Was my eloquent answer. Sasuke had a look of irritation on his face, before it switched to small sad smile, which he hid quickly, before switching back to his passive look.

Yep. Something big.

As I took another bite out of my fish, another kid I'd been introduced to, exploded. It was Tsunami's son, Inari. He was a pesky little whiner, who seemed to get kicks out of discouraging me and the Ninjas here. Kind of annoying, but I took it easy on the brat cause 1) He's a kid. 2) His pop was killed right in front of him. 3) He's a _kid_.

"WHY DO YOU GUYS BOTHER TO TRY SO HARD?!" Inari exploded, setting his angry, tearful glare at me and Naruto. He composed himself, and continued, "No matter how hard you train, you're still no match for Gato's men!"

"Speak for yourself." I countered with a smirk. "Those wimps couldn't fight their way out of a paper bag."

The little boy bristled at that.

"Bah, empty words!" He spat out venomously. "No matter what glorious claims you make or how hard you work, when facing the strong, the weak will only end up getting killed!"

"Hah," Naruto interjected. "Whatever, brat. I'm not like you." He left it at that.

"I'D HATE TO BE LIKE YOU!" Inari shouted back, sadness and rage apparent on his face. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ME?! I'M DIFFERENT FROM YOU; YOU'RE ALWAYS CLOWNING AROUND AND ACTING SO CHEERFUL, YOU DON'T KNOW HOW HARD LIFE CAN BE!"

There was a silence after that little outburst. I took a glance at my right. Naruto sat completely still, a shadow over his eyes and face. Whatever Inari had just said seemed to reverberate through the blonde boy.

"So...," Naruto began very calmly, his speech completely different than the cheerful boy he'd seen today, "It's okay for you to pose as the star of a tragedy and cry all day?"

And then Naruto snapped.

"JUST KEEP ON CRYING FOREVER, YOU IDIOT!" Naruto looked positively enraged as he said this. "YOU LITTLE SISSY!"

"Naruto, you've said enough!" Sakura finally said something. Naruto— surprisingly enough— didn't even give her the time of day, and got up with a "Hmph!", before walking away from the group. We sat in silence for a very long, and uncomfortable time.

I finally decided to get up as well.

"I'll go find Naruto, make sure he doesn't do somethin' stupid." I said, looking at Kakashi for permission. He nodded at my request. With that, I exited Tazuna's house, in search of the blue eyed kid.

It took a while, but I caught on to Naruto's trail— not that he was doing much to hide where he was going. I'd found broken branches, cracks in tree trunks, as well as other assorted things, which led me towards my goal. I had went a bit deep into the forest, and for a while I thought I was just lost, but I eventually made it to a clearing. Naruto was on his knees, punching the ground in anger.

"THAT LITTLE BRAT!" He roared to the skies, not having noticed my presence. "WHAT DO I KNOW ABOUT HAVING A HARD LIFE!?" He sputtered as he repeated Inari's question, the mere mention of it sending him into another fit of rage.

"EVERYONE IN MY VILLAGE HATES ME! WHAT DO I KNOW? MY PARENTS ARE DEAD OR ABANDONED ME. EVERYONE TREATS ME LIKE THEY'D PREFER I WAS DEAD. THEY ALL WOULD LIKE TO IGNORE I WAS EVER BORN. LIKE I'M SOME DISEASE THAT THEY WANT TO GET RID OF, A _DEMON_ THAT THEY WANT TO KILL! What do I know..." He seemed to calm down at the end there, the only sounds coming from him being quiet, controlled sobs.

Clearly I had misjudged this boy. I thought I'd had a bad life, what with the endless fiancées, the curse, the staggering amount of rivals (which I didn't really mind, to be honest), and the manipulations I'd endured. Throughout my life, I've endured some very bad things, but I was almost never alone, with a few exceptions of course. For all his faults, I believe that my father was simply a man with a skewed world view, most likely caused by that freak Happosai. He had taken care of me when I was hurt and sick, and he had trained me up to be the best martial artist the world had ever seen. There was a lot of pain, blood, sweat and many, many tears. However, pops had my back for almost all of it.

Naruto had none of that, it seemed. I'd met some orphans on my ten-year training trip with pop. They all had this very sad look in their eyes. It was as if nothing could ever make them happy. But Naruto's case was different. Not only did he not have parents, but his fellow citizens don't even give him the time of day. What kind of life could he have possibly led? And how is it that he could keep smiling through it all?

'He ain't smiling now.' I thought to myself. I felt compelled to say something, anything.

"You okay, kid?" I walked into the clearing. Naruto, still on his hands and knees, froze up at the sound of my voice. He turned to me, with a look of fear on his face.

Fear? What was he afraid of?

"H-how much did you hear?" Naruto stuttered out, visibly upset. He frantically wiped at his eyes.

I sat down next to him. "I'd say everything." I ruffled his hair. He looked up at me, not knowing how to react. I sighed, thinking I did something wrong.

"Look, kid." I said slowly, "I don't blame you for telling that little twerp off. To be honest," I admitted, "I kind of wanted to do it, too."

"Really?" Naruto asked, bewildered.

"Well, yeah." I confirmed. "You think you're the only one who got sick of hearing his constant 'you guys are gonna die' babble? Believe me, I was getting close to just whacking him on the back of his head."

"Heh." Naruto sniffed, and wiped the tears out of his eyes.

"You should just give up, you're all gonna die anyway," I gave a fair imitation of the brat, and Naruto cracked a small smile at the display. We sat around in silence for a few minutes, before we both stood up.

"Ano.." Naruto seemed confused on what to say. "Thank you, Ranma-niichan. I needed that."

"It's no problem, kid."

"Don't call me that!" Ah, familiar ground.

"Just cause you say that, doesn't mean I'll stop calling you kid, kid." I smirked at the boy, who had a resigned look on his face. Slowly, it morphed into one of determination.

"I bet you won't call me kid after I finish my training and beat you!"

"Beat me?" Something about that amused me. "A lot of people have tried, kid."

"I swear it! I'll beat you one day, Ranma-niichan! And I'll become Hokage!"

Hokage? Fire shadow? Oh, right; he wants to be the leader of the Ninja village. With that getup?

"Hokage?" I sounded out. Well he certainly had the potential for it, if he could have so much Ki at his age.

"Yeah! I'm gonna surpass all the previous ones!" He grinned at me and turned to one of the trees, walking up to it. I stood there, wondering what he was going to do.

He clasped his hands together, and formed a strange symbol with them. He stayed like that for a while. I was about to say something, before I felt a shift in his Ki. It was like parts of his Ki were moving steadily down, and settling on the soles of his feet. He placed a foot on the trunk of the tree, and began _walking up its length._

...

...

I almost gaped at the display. My mouth watered as I closely watched his every motion. I immediately decided to try this out.

Ninjas, huh. Wait until they see this in Nerima.

**********ooooooooooooooo**

**And that's it for now. I'll go ahead and skip training sequences and the like, unless it's actually needed for the story.**


	6. Ranma vs Fox Fist?

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or Ranma 1/2.

Quick hint; Naruto doesn't meet Haku.

**Note: **Some of you keep insisting that Chakra and Ki are different. The fact of the matter is.. I could care less. In my story they're the same energy, okay? Magic doesn't interfere with it or anything. Also Ranma's curse means nothing in here due to Henge no Jutsu. Simple as that. No, it's not Genjutsu, a brand of techniques specifically designed to mess with a person's chakra system to trick their brain into experiencing whatever illusion you've concocted. You actually change form, but you have to constantly exert your Chakra/Ki for it.

I will refer to energy as Ki, since Ranma has called it Ki all his life; he won't suddenly call it Chi because that's what the Chinese call it. People in the dialogue will say "Chakra" but outside of dialogue, I will call it Ki.

**ooooooooooooooo****  
****Who's A Ninja?**  
**A Ranma 1/2 and Naruto Crossover**  
**By Ranma XLR**  
**© 2014**  
**ooooooooooooooo**

**Chapter 5: Ranma vs Kitsune Ken!?  
**

The night's blue sky slowly gave way to a breathtaking display of radiant colors. Bright streaks of red, pink and orange overcame the dark blue and purple of the twilight sky. The sky resembled a prism; all the colors blended perfectly into each other. The sun was just peeking out of the horizon, and its rays were already shining brightly, warming the air, and my skin, reinvigorating me slightly.

"Nngh..." A groan was heard from the boy hefted on my shoulders. Naruto was still out cold, as I trudged the path back to Tazuna's house.

"Heh, just a little bit more, kid." I said to him, though he could not hear my words in his unconscious state.

After Naruto's little episode, we'd decided to train well into the night. The kid was pretty clumsy, and had very little control over his Ki. But man, he had a drive. I hadn't seen anyone that interested in the arts, aside from Ryoga or myself. Naruto kept pushing himself further and further. If he screwed up, he just got back up and tried again. And again. And again. He refused to quit, not even for a moment. I could definitely admire that.

It took me the whole night, but I'd gotten the exercise down. Soon, I was leaping from tree to tree, defying gravity by sticking to them like glue. It felt exhilarating. Naruto was impressed; he said that it took him almost a week to do it. I wasn't surprised, what with the amount of Ki in his system at his age.

I also had asked him about that strange hand symbol he kept making with his hands. Reminded me of those priests I visited with pops at some point. I distinctly remember similar symbols being made with their hands while meditating. Pops and I didn't really stick around too long to figure out what they were, though. I made a note to check it out whenever I got back. I could've been missing out on an important part of my martial arts.

"It's a hand-seal!" Naruto had explained to me, his shit eating grin back on, and on full blast to boot. The kid was pretty terrible with explaining how these hand-seals worked, and what they did in particular; he did show me what they were, though. From what I could tell from his jabbering, a series of hand-seals would initiate some kind of technique. He told me that Kakashi the Cyclops was able to make a dragon out of water appear, and that some eyebrow-less freak called Zabuza could make clones out of water, and imprison people in balls of water. Naruto himself showed me his Shadow Clones; it reminded me of Cologne's Splitting Cat Hairs technique, though these things were _solid_. So I asked him if he could teach it to me.

Naruto refused. I wasn't surprised, though; I myself would be reluctant to part with the techniques I know, as well. You definitely won't see me teaching some guy I've known for one day my most important techniques. Of course, this wouldn't stop me from pestering him for it. He'll crack and teach it to me, eventually. They all do.

We took a while longer, as Naruto went back to climbing his tree, but I managed to get the hand-seals down in around a little less than an hour. It was a little bit tricky, getting my hands to be fixed in those sometimes uncomfortable positions, but with practice that particular feeling should fade—"the life of a martial artist is fraught with peril!" My father would say. Anyway, I could safely say I could perform techniques— at least the hand-seal sequence. It made me cheer, which made Naruto lose his concentration, and fall off the tree, knocking himself unconscious.

So here I am, dragging his sleeping ass back to Tazuna's house.

The walk to the old bridge builder's place was long, and somewhat tiring; I'd been training all night, after all. All I cared about, at this point, was some rest, so I could learn some more tomorrow— later today, I corrected myself. As soon as I reached the house, I placed Naruto in Kakashi's arms, gave him a quick nod, and went to Tsunami and the old man Tazuna to thank them for their hospitality. I figured they wouldn't want me sleeping in their house. I was a stranger, after all.

"Oh, please stay. I insist!" Tsunami gave me a smile worthy of Kasumi, which meant that it was not my choice to make. Not really.

Well, if you can't beat 'em...

******ooooooooooooooo  
********Who's A Ninja?**  
******ooooooooooooooo**  


"HEY! HEY! Where's everyone?" Naruto's loud voice woke me. I groaned, and opened my eyes.

I heard one of the doors slide open.

"Oh! Naruto, you're already awake?" A pause. "Kakashi-san said that you should rest..."

"I knew it! They left me behind!" Naruto ran out of the house.

"I'M OFF!"

Jeez, this kid was loud, but he was gone now, so maybe I could get in a few more minutes of sleep.

A few more minutes was all I got, when I heard a loud crash. Someone had broken in the house. Shit. My eyes flew open as I got to my feet. I stopped myself from rushing to the source of the noise; who knows what kind of stuff was going down. Whoever was there could be some more Ninja that Gato hired. Or it could even be that Zabuza guy. I slipped through the hallways silently, careful not to make noise and lose the element of surprise.

I was getting closer to the source of the intrusion, though whoever came in seemed to be stepping outside. So I followed suit, finding a small spot to hide in. Tsunami stood between two men, with her hands bound behind her back. The first looked like the textbook brute; he had a stupid looking face, wore an eye-patch, was shirtless, and had a few tattoos on his body. The other one was wearing a grey jacket, and a beanie, with shoulder-length hair. There also seemed to me some weird marking underneath his eyes.

"Hehe..." I heard a rough voice say. "Looking at that pretty skin makes me want to cut it."

"Walk faster," Another one said, and the sound of Tsunami being shoved was heard. I prepared to pounce on those two to knock their lights out and end this whole situation, when...

"Wait!" The little nuisance, Inari's voice was heard. He was standing behind them, looking angry and afraid.

"Huh? It's that kid."

"Inari!"

"Get..." The kid sounded scared, but the fear seemed to give way to unadulterated anger. "GET AWAY FROM MY MOM!"

My respect for Inari went up a couple notches as he ran towards them in some desperate attempt to stop them from taking his mother. It was a futile attempt, of course, but it's the thought that counts, right?

"This stupid kid... Kill him."

"Sure."

"No!" And they began unsheathing their swords, with the intent to kill the little brat.

I'd heard enough. With a burst of speed, I appeared in front of the two fools, landing a roundhouse kick right on the brute's head, knocking him out almost instantaneously. His friend snarled at me, drawing his sword.

"You'll pay for that!" He made a diagonal slash, which should have cleaved me in two— except it never got close.

_Too slow_.

I'd immediately sidestepped the sluggish slash, and the next, being used to regular assaults from Kuno, assaults which were much faster than this joke of an onslaught. I struck at my enemy's hands, and he immediately let go of the sword, in favor of soothing the sudden flare of pain. The katana fell to the floor with a loud clatter. I didn't give the scum any time to speak, as I chopped him on the back of his neck, knocking him out cold.

I turned to check on Tsunami and Inari's conditions, and they were looking at me with awe and gratitude in their eyes. I approached them, to check for any wounds.

"You guys all right?" I asked, as I undid the knots that tied Tsunami's arms behind her back.

"I'm fine, my shoulders just feel a little stiff, that's all." Tsunami tilted her neck and rolled her shoulders as she said this.

I turned to Inari. "What about you, twerp?"

He looked down. "I'm fine."

I ruffled his hair. "You did good, kid. Standing up to two armed thugs ain't very smart, but that took real guts. You're stronger than I thought!" I smiled at him.

He looked shocked, and began to tear up. Was it something I said? Why do I always make people cry?

"Damn it." He wiped at his face. "I decided I wasn't going to cry anymore... Now Naruto-niichan's going to make fun of me and call me a crybaby again..."

"Nah, I doubt that. Got any rope?" I asked Tsunami, who nodded in response.

A few minutes later, the three of us had Gato's goons all tied up.

"Anyway." I said after admiring a job well done, "You got anywhere you can hide other than this place? If they attacked here, they could also be attacking the old man Tazuna at the bridge, and I can't just leave you guys here."

"No, I'm not sure anyone will take us in.." Tsunami answered with sadness. I frowned at that, before I got an idea.

"You know where Tamotsu's house is?" Tsunami nodded. "All right. Good. Go there, right now. Tell him I sent you."

"A-All right, Ranma-san."

I turned to the little boy. "You keep your mom safe, all right? And don't do anything stupid."

He gave me a determined look. "All right, Ranma-niichan!"

These kids should stop with the -niichan, already...

******ooooooooooooooo  
********Who's A Ninja?**  
******ooooooooooooooo**

I was probably going be a bit late to the party most likely taking place on the bridge. I had decided, after some thought, to accompany Tsunami and Inari for half the trip to Tamotsu's house, in case any foul play occured. I was sure Naruto and his friends could hold out until I got there. Once halfway to Tamotsu's farm, I bid the mother and son goodbye, and ran to the bridge as fast as I could.

A thick mist began to form in the air, heavily impairing my vision. This was no normal mist... I could feel traces of Ki in the air. Another technique perhaps? There was something, else, though. The air was thick with tension and bloodlust. I'd not felt anything like this for a while. I was right in my choice to come aid Kakashi's team. Whatever was here needed to be stopped.

I spotted the bridge through the haze of water vapor, and began running up its side, suppressing my presence via the Umi-Sen-Ken.

I managed to make it to the top, just in time to hear...

"I NEVER ASKED FOR YOUR HELP!" Naruto yelled out through the excessively thick mist.

"I don't know." Sasuke's voice ground out weakly, as I approached the source of the noise. Mirrors of ice floated in mid-air, surrounding Naruto and Sasuke in a dome-like pattern. Some guy wearing a mask was kneeling a little bit away from them. But that's not all. Naruto was on the ground, looking at Sasuke in shock. Sasuke, who looked like a bloody human pincushion at the moment. His blood smeared the concrete floor below him, as he swayed weakly. "My body just moved on its own... Idiot." And he fell back. I watched as Naruto caught him. I needed to find a way to break these mirrors, and quick.

Sasuke said a few more words—which I couldn't make out— to Naruto, before closing his eyes and going still. Naruto just held his form in his arms, staring.

"He landed a blow on me, and without flinching..." The still kneeling boy said, "Died to protect you. To protect a precious person, knowing it was a trap, he was still willing to jump in. He is a Shinobi that deserves respect."

This was sick. The guy who killed Sasuke was praising him? It was enough to make my blood boil.

Naruto gave no answer, simply setting Sasuke on the ground gently.

"Is this the first time you see a friend die?" The masked boy asked softly as he stood up, and began to _merge_ with one of the nearby ice mirrors. "This is the way of the Shinobi."

"Shut up..." Naruto growled out. "I won't forgive you for this!"

And then it happened. A massive surge of power appeared all of a sudden, forcing me back a step. Orange Ki erupted from Naruto's being, swirling around the boy and destroying the concrete floor below him. It felt incredibly powerful, and malevolent. The Ki flew around erratically for a while, before coalescing to form the bloodthirsty visage of a fox. I stood there, transfixed, as Naruto's wounds visibly healed, leaving unblemished skin. His hair grew wilder, and his nails elongated into claws, but the most prominent feature I could see were his eyes. No longer were they a bright, and warm blue; no, they were now slitted, and crimson.

"I'll kill you!"

It was unlike anything I'd seen before. The heavy Ki lingered for a while longer, before dissipating entirely, a completely different pressure filling the air, threatening to suffocate anyone nearby. It felt similar to Happosai's aura, but much worse, somehow.

Without warning and with speed I hadn't anticipated from the kid, Naruto dashed at the mirror which the masked Ninja was in. Said Ninja threw some senbon at the boy, but he simply deflected them with a wave of his Ki. The masked Ninja seemed to move to another mirror above the feral boy, who just looked around wildly, trying to find his foe. The Ninja dropped down from above, intending to finish the boy off from his blind spot, but Naruto recognized the danger he was in, and jumped away, mere moments before the masked Ninja landed a hit on the ground, cracking it, and causing some dust and small chips to fly. Naruto spun to a stop, before wildly rushing at the masked Ninja who was attempting to reach the safety of one of his mirrors.

He snatched his masked foe by his wrist, and unleashed his energy once more, cracking the ice mirrors around him. The masked boy attempted to ward off the malevolent Ki by channeling his own, but it was as effective as an ant attempting to stop a boot from crushing it. Naruto's Ki began to concentrate around his hand, which he balled up into a fist. And then he let it loose in his enemy face. The enemy Ninja was sent flying, crashing through one of his mirrors, before tumbling across the floor like a ragdoll. I distantly noted that the rest of mirrors crumbled into nothing.

I almost let out a whistle at the display of brute force.

But Naruto was not done. As his enemy began to stand up, Naruto rushed at his foe, intending to finish him off. The enemy Ninja did not even put his guard up, intending to let Naruto kill him.

That's when I made my move. Using my considerable speed, I intercepted Naruto's punch by grabbing his wrist before he could strike his defenseless opponent. All was still for a moment.

"What's the big idea, kid? The fight's over." I said forcefully, and with a bit of anger. Naruto did not even look my way, his eyes fixed on his friend's killer. He tried to shake my hand off of his wrist, but I refused to let go.

"I ain't lettin' go."

Naruto finally turned his head my way, and I almost took a step back at the ferocity of his glare. His Ki surged around him again, blowing me and the enemy Ninja away. I managed to regain my footing, after stumbling on the wet concrete floor, just in time to see Naruto on all fours, rushing towards me. I dodged a claw strike aimed at my neck, followed by headbutt that would've taken the breath out of my lungs if it hit. I retaliated with a series of quick shots and kicks to his sides and head, but he seemed to power on through them, like they weren't even there. He kind of reminded me of Ryoga, in that sense. Except without the bloodlust. After another failed attack, I decided to take this a little seriously.

So what if he's tough? I already know how to deal with tough opponents.

"Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!" I pushed past the boy's feeble guard, and let loose a dazzling fast barrage of devastating blows in a singular spot; his solar plexus. To his credit, Naruto weathered the blows, and retaliated as best he could. Scratching, biting, punching, grabbing, though I nimbly dodged or redirected every attempt he made, and made sure to pay him back with more shots to the solar plexus.

After a few more attempts at this, the boy finally keeled over, the pain becoming too much for him to handle. And that's when it started to get worse. The orange Ki I had seen before began to emerge again, bubbling out of his skin, and enveloping Naruto's being. I'd had enough of this. As he was channeling his Ki, I slipped into the Umi-Sen-Ken, and snuck up behind him, landing a vicious two-handed strike at the base of his neck. He smashed into the concrete floor with great force, the orange Ki bubbles disappearing out of existence instantaneously, the suffocating presence going with it. I knelt over the blonde haired boy, to make sure he was all right. It looked like my blow had simply knocked him out cold. I let a sigh of relief out, and relaxed a bit. At least I didn't accidentally kill him. I didn't know what the boy had just used, and it wasn't the time for questions, either.

The mists began to clear, and the sounds of chirping birds permeated through the air, assaulting my ears. I cringed a bit at first, and looked around for the source of this noise. Kakashi stood in front of another man, who seemed to be held down by a pack of hounds— I shit you not— and there was pure _lightning_ sparking off of his right hand.

The fight wasn't over yet.

******ooooooooooooooo**

**Done! Sleep time!**


	7. Zabuza and Haku

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or Ranma 1/2.

**ooooooooooooooo****  
****Who's A Ninja?**  
**A Ranma 1/2 and Naruto Crossover**  
**By Ranma XLR**  
**© 2014**  
**ooooooooooooooo**

**Chapter 6: Haku and Zabuza  
**

I've seen some pretty ridiculous things in my pretty short life. I've been subjected to a multitude of random events, which led me into very bizarre situations. I've come out on top almost every time, of course, and have devised a scale to measure the weirdness of certain situations. The scale, which I referred to as the "This is Disturbing" scale, goes from "Usual" and "Boring" to "What the hell is this!?" and "It's so weird, but I still can't stop looking".

The scene playing out in front of me? I'd just knocked out a hyperactive blonde haired kid in orange and blue who, for all intents and purposes, was in a berserk state eerily reminding me of the Cat Fist training (I _hate_ cats!). Close to us, stood some pretty boy wearing make-up, staring off into space, as if all hell wasn't breaking loose around us; I guess his mask broke off or something. With that punch Naruto gave him at the end, I wouldn't be surprised. If that wasn't strange enough, in the distance, I could see Zabuza— or at least, I think it's Zabuza— held still by dogs who had _sunk their teeth into him_. Opposite to him, was Kakashi, his headband which usually covered his left eye—I don't even know what the hell _that thing_ is— now in its proper place. His right hand was encased in electricity as he had words with Zabuza. What could they be talking about in a fight to the death? Beats me.

All in all, I'd give this situation a "Why am I part of this again?"

"You... beat him." Ah, so the pretty boy finally speaks. Do all these Ninja start out this young? The whole concept felt very wrong to me. I saw nothing wrong with learning the martial arts to better myself, and to protect the weak, but these Ninja didn't train fighters. They trained soldiers; killers, in other words.

"Yeah." I answered back, placing my guard back up, in case he tries anything. "And I didn't kill him either, not like..." My throat felt a little tight as I turned to give the downed Sasuke a sad look. I'd only known him for about a day, and he seemed like a promising fighter that I could've went toe to toe with in a few years time. To have that potential simply snuffed out...

"Ah, I see. You believe me despicable, for harming the other boy." The pretty boy said in a monotone voice, angering me. Did he not even care about the severity of his actions?

"Harming him!?" I repeated. "He's-"

"_He_ is very much alive, and-" But that's all the pretty boy managed to say, before his eyes suddenly widened, around the same time Kakashi charged at Zabuza in the background. He formed what looked like one half of a ram seal. "I must go!" And disappeared, leaving me only with the view of the other Ninja's fight.

As Kakashi charged with the intent to end the defiant Zabuza's life, an ice mirror appeared next to them, with the pretty boy leaping out of it, straight into the path of Kakashi's lightning strike. The grey haired man jabbed towards Zabuza, but instead caught the man's cohort right in chest, over his heart, piercing straight through. I watched as Kakashi's eyes widened in shock at this particular development. I rushed over to the scene in a split second, in order to aid Kakashi. The dogs that were holding down the eyebrow-less freak disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Za...buza-san." The pretty boy managed to say, as he coughed out copious amounts of blood. It was a miracle that he was still alive, let alone capable of speaking in that state.

"My future is death?" The giant sword wielding man said with a mocking grin on his face. "Heh... You're wrong again, Kakashi."

I watched as the pretty boy leaned forward, going limp on Kakashi's arm. He was already dead, with a smile on his face.

"Hehe..." Zabuza laughed. "Good work... Haku. I sure picked up something useful! Giving me this final chance at ending you!" He grabbed his sword, preparing to strike. Kakashi realized this, as he began to jump back; but it would be too late, by then.

He planned on striking his ally and his friend simultaneously? What a despicable maneuver. I was having none of it. I rushed towards the two, ducking underneath the horizontally swinging sword, and kicked upwards with all my strength, sending the weapon flying back a ways away. Giving the guy no time to process what just happened, I spun on my hands, angling myself to land a devastating kick to his ribs. The man finally responded by grabbing my foot, and giving it a sharp twist in an attempt to destabilize me. Instead, I used the twist's momentum and transferred it to my other foot, which hit him right in the face, sending him flying back into the side of the bridge, right next to his humongous sword.

That altercation over, I got to my feet, and turned to Kakashi, who was gently placing the dead Ninja he'd killed on the ground. His hand made disturbing squelching noises as he pulled it out of the boy's chest, the show of gore nauseating me.

"You okay, Kakashi-san?" I said to the man, who looked at me confusedly.

"Yes. I'm fine. But..." He seemed at a loss for words. "Who... Exactly are you?"

What?

"What the hell are you on about, Kakashi!? We met the other day in the village!" I answered with annoyance, the dead body of the pretty boy forgotten momentarily in the confusion.

"I have never met you in my life, miss." He answered flatly.

Miss? What did he mean by miss? I looked down. Boobs. Oh hell no. When did this happen? Have I gotten so used to the change that I couldn't even tell when it happened? I suppressed a groan of annoyance, before speaking.

"I'm Ranma." I said, and his eyes widened. What the hell was up with that red eye? It looked freaky to me. "I'll explain this later; we still have no-brow to deal with, still." I jerked a thumb behind me, to the sight of Zabuza who was recovering from my sudden, brutal onslaught of kicks.

Speaking of..

"I don't know who the hell you are." Zabuza began as he hefted his sword over his shoulders menacingly. "But I'm gonna kill you, too, lady."

"Who you callin' a lady, idiot?" I turned to him, a mocking grin on my face. "And how exactly are you gonna kill me, while you're in that state, huh? You look like you could get into a fight with a baby and lose."

I sensed his hesitation, which gave way to anger and determination. Have it your way, no-brow.

Before this new fight began, a loud thonk was heard off to the sight. Our heads swiveled to the source; it was a short, brown haired man wearing a suit and sunglasses. The cane he held in his hands looked like it was for show. Behind him, stood a literal army of thugs, and bandits, all carrying all sorts of weapons.

"You're getting your ass kicked." The guy in a suit said in a loud, grating voice. "How disappointing... Zabuza." He gave a sinister grin.

"Gato..." Zabuza growled out angrily. "Why are you here...? And what's with all these men!?"

So this was the guy who plunged the country into darkness? This midget?

"Hehehe..." Gato laughed. "We had a little change of plans. Well, actually," He corrected himself as the men behind him laughed, "I planned to do this from the beginning."

"Zabuza," Gato continued, "I'm going to have you killed here."

"What?" Zabuza ground out, through gritted teeth.

"I never planned on paying you any money." Gato explained disimissively. "Hiring a normal Ninja from the village is expensive and they may betray me... So I get you missing-nins who are easy to take care of afterwards." He gave a sinister grin. "I have the Ninjas battle each other, and once they're weakened, I kill them off with sheer numbers. It barely costs me anything! It's good business, don't you think?"

The group of mercenaries laughed again, more loudly and boisterously this time. "We can easily kill you now!"

Zabuza turned to us. "Kakashi, lady, I'm sorry. This fight is over."

My head swerved to him quickly. "You're just gonna quit fighting us, just like that?"

"Now that I have no reason to go after Tazuna," Zabuza explained, "I have no reason to fight you."

What he said made sense... But still. To switch sides so suddenly?

"Ah... You're right, Zabuza." Kakashi agreed with him, the laughter of the bandits still prominent.

"Oh, yes." Gato said as he strode over to the pretty boy's dead body. He snarled. "I owe this one..."

He tapped at the dead boy's head with the sole of his expensive shoes. "You squeezed my arm until it broke, you little bitch."

And then he kicked him the face.

"Not so tough now, are yo-URGH!" That's all Gato managed to say before his head was forcibly detached from his body, Zabuza's sword having cut clean through it.

There was a moment of silence, as Gato's body fell to its knees, and then hit the ground with a loud thud.

"You... You killed our meal ticket!" One of the bandits yelled out, his shock turning into anger.

"Kill him!"

"We'll get him, then let's all go straight to the city and take everything of value there!"

"Yeah!"

Zabuza laughed, stopping them in their tracks. It was not a happy laugh, it felt hollow, somehow.

"You speak as if any of you maggots are leaving here alive." Zabuza smiled at them maniacally, walking towards them slowly, with a terrifying glint in his eyes. "Oh no... I'll kill you all right here."

And then he moved, mowing through them left and right. They came at him in droves, but he just kept going, pushing through them like they were made of cardboard. Soon, their cries of anger and fury turned into cries of fear and despair.

"Devil of the Mist indeed..." I heard Kakashi say next to me, and I found myself agreeing. While I was totally against what was occurring right now, I could not deny the skill with which Zabuza was dispatching his enemies. Even after enduring my and Kakashi's assaults, he still had plenty of fight left in him. He did not make a single wasteful move, choosing to kill them all quickly and efficiently.

I had pondered going in to help him, but immediately decided against it; he was taking revenge for the death of his comrade, and it was certainly not my place to interfere. Soon, all the mercenaries were dead at the Devil of the Mist's feet. The entire area around the man was stained red with the blood of the fallen bodies lying around him. Some had tried to run, but he made short work of them as well.

After the deed was done, he walked towards his comrade's dead body, and knelt beside it, staring at the boy's face.

"Looks like it's over... Haku." Zabuza said quietly, shaking a little bit. "I am..." He stopped suddenly, looking upwards with wide eyes.

It was snowing?

"Haku... You are...!" Zabuza seemed to break there and then.

"You have always been by my side... I am so sorry, my friend! I am so sorry!" He apologized over and over to the boy's corpse, tears streaming freely down his face.

Maybe being a Ninja isn't all it's cracked up to be...

******ooooooooooooooo**

**Muhahahaha! I killed off Haku!**

**Points to whoever can figure out how Ranma transformed.**

**Now, here's a question. Do you want Zabuza to go to the Leaf?**


End file.
